About Crowd Funding

Crowdfunding is becoming a mainstream way to raise money for fundraising ideas and small businesses! Don't miss your opportunity!

Crowd funding reached $2.7 billion in 2012, an 81% increase from the prior year and is on track to pass $10 billion in 2015. The movement has the potential to bring billions of dollars in funding to companies and fundraising ideas that might otherwise never get off the ground.

And that is all before crowdfunding has gone mainstream.

Crowd funding is quickly becoming the number one choice for fundraising and small business funding but it isn't easy. Nearly two-thirds of crowdfunding campaigns fail to reach their goal. It's because all the media attention is on success stories with nothing about the work that goes into the crowd funding process.

That's where Crowd101 comes in as your source for tips on crowdfunding marketing, crowdfunding promotion and how to make your campaign a success!

Crowd Funding Small Business

The Two Worlds of Crowdfunding and Fundraising Success

When we talk about crowdfunding, we’re really talking about one of two distinct worlds.

Rewards-based crowdfunding on sites like Kickstarter is where supporters give money to start-up ideas or social causes. Supporters may get a ‘reward’ for their pledge but do not get any ownership in the company.

Equity crowdfunding on sites like Crowdfunder is where investors put money to an idea for an ownership in the company. Until 2015, equity crowdfunding was only open to wealthy investors but has since brought this new investing tool to everyone.

Crowd101.com is your first stop into both worlds of crowdfunding. Unlike other sites that only offer information for crowdfunding campaigns, on Crowd101 you’ll find information for investors and supporters as well as for crowdfunding projects.

Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign?

I reviewed and coached dozens of crowdfunding campaigns before launching this blog. I know what it takes to make a crowdfunding campaign successful. The majority of campaigns (60% on Kickstarter) never reach their funding goal and get nothing but the fact is, crowdfunding is easy if you follow a simple process!

Click through to our Crowd Campaigns category for all our posts on how to run a successful campaign or go directly to separate areas.

One-stop Guide to Successful Crowdfunding

Whether its for a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign or to raise money for your small business, you'll find everything you need on the blog for successful crowdfunding. I've helped dozens of crowdfunding campaigns raise money and the book Step by Step Crowdfunding has sold over 1,800 copies on Amazon and in print.

Guide to Successful Crowdfunding

The first thing you'll notice on the blog is that crowdfunding is not about the money! That will be a surprise to a lot of people but successful crowdfunding is about much more than just raising money. You'll read in crowdfunding success stories how people were able to reach an entirely new group of customers and build an army of cheerleaders for their cause through crowdfunding.

You'll also get every step in the crowdfunding process on the blog. Too many people launch a crowdfunding campaign thinking it's a one-two process, as in start the campaign and collect the money. Successful crowdfunding is a detailed process of planning, pre-launch and marketing. It's only through the process that you will be able to raise money in the crowd.

Get the Process before Going to the Crowdfunding Sites

Take a few minutes to scan through some of the articles and get an idea of the process before starting your campaign on one of the crowdfunding sites. We've got a great review of the crowdfunding platforms but finding the best website for your campaign is a minor detail in the entire process.

First, understand the fundraising process and other steps in crowdfunding planning before launching your campaign. You'll only have a month or two after the campaign starts so it's so important to have everything ready.

Feel free to ask questions and leave comments about your crowdfunding experience. Share the blog with friends that might be thinking about crowdfunding.

My name is Joseph Hogue. Born and raised in Iowa, I graduated from Iowa State University after serving in the Marine Corps. I started out in corporate finance but quickly realized that I had a passion for investments and helping people understand their money. I have appeared on Bloomberg and led a team of equity analysts for a Canadian private equity firm. I also hold the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the gold standard for ethical and professional conduct in investment management.

Working in investments, it became clear very quickly that the cards were stacked against regular people like you and me. Years after the Great Recession, people are not able to get personal loans or small business loans because of overly strict policies at traditional banks. Regular investors are locked out of start-up financing and high-return investments from regulators. Peer lending and crowdfunding is changing all this.

For small business, no longer do you need contacts in banking to get funding. Crowdfunding is opening a path to not only raise the money you need but to get free marketing and customer buy-in for your business.

It is truly a revolutionary time for finance and investment in America. I'm excited to be a part of it and I hope you will join me.